


Call me Mike

by fakevermeer



Category: The Following
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff without Plot, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-21
Updated: 2013-03-21
Packaged: 2017-12-06 01:02:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/729884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fakevermeer/pseuds/fakevermeer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Ryan and Mike go on a stake-out in a bar, Ryan has a phone stalker and Mike is smug.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Call me Mike

**Author's Note:**

> Set after 1x06.

'You called me Mike.'

Ryan looked up from his phone. It was buzzing with an incoming call, and he had been wondering whether he should answer it or not. Weston was standing in front of him, looking way too smug for Ryan's liking. As he declined the call and stuffed his phone back into his pocket, Ryan took the file that Weston was handing him. As he opened it and leafed through the file, he glanced up at Weston.

'So?'

Weston crossed his arms. 'So my words do apparently get through to you at some point. That's good to know.'

'Right. What am I looking at?'

'That's the file of one of our possible leads. Parker wants us to go on another stake-out.'

Ryan closed the file and handed it back to Weston. 'I'm overjoyed. You can bring me up to speed while we're on our way to the location.'

Ryan smirked at the slightly annoyed sigh he heard Weston utter behind him, as he turned to get his coat. This had the potential to become an interesting kind of partnership.

 

\- - - - - - - - - -

 

Ryan's phone lighted up and buzzed on the wooden tabletop. He looked at it, hesitated for a second, then decided to ignore it and take a sip of his whiskey instead. Their stake-out location was, most conveniently, a bar with a huge window on the street side. They were sitting at a tiny table in the corner of the bar, taking turns to keep an eye on the house on the opposite side of the street.

'Aren't you gonna answer that?' Weston looked at Ryan with one eyebrow raised ever so slightly.

'It's not important.'

'Well, whoever it is, if they keep calling it probably is important.'

'It's none of your business.'

'I'm not saying that it is. I'm just arguing the importance of the call.' Weston took a sip from his beer, that smug look back on his face. Ryan decided that, as he was getting to know the young agent, he was developing ambivalent feelings towards that particular shade of smugness.

'It's just some journalist who wants me to comment on the whole Carroll thing. She read my book and she's been stalking me ever since.'

Somehow, Mike looked a bit put out after this comment. Ryan downed his whiskey in one go. He knew he was drinking too much, and that his alcohol intake had reached dangerous levels even for someone without a pacemaker, but at the moment he couldn't care less. As he kept an eye out for any movement on the other side of the street, he also noted his phone stopped buzzing. Unconsciously, a sigh of relief escaped him.

Ryan ordered another whiskey.

'I'm not sure Parker means ‘get drunk’ when she says ‘blend in’,' Weston commented, ordering another beer nonetheless.

'I don't-'

'-care about what Parker has to say, I know,' Weston interrupted, smiling at him. 'Still, it might be useful to not impair your sense of judgement even further, for both our sakes.'

Ryan didn't break eye contact with Weston as he drank his second whiskey in one go. Weston snorted and looked like he wanted to comment some more, but thought better of it and took a sip of his second beer instead.

 

\- - - - - - - - - -

 

Three hours and several drinks later, they were both surprised to find Weston's phone being the one that started buzzing.

'Parker. Yes. Yes, we are. Okay. Really? Right. Thanks. We will.' Weston ended the call, and waved his phone around as he explained to Ryan what was happening. 'Suspect has turned up somewhere else. We're done for the day.'

Ryan raised his eyebrows and snorted. 'Well, that was useful.'

Weston nodded and finished his beer. A waitress came to pick up their empty glasses.

'Can I get you another one, gentlemen?' She smiled at them.

Ryan didn't get a chance to decline - Weston eagerly ordered another drink. As the waitress took away their empty glasses, Ryan gave Weston a look.

'What?' Weston replied with a grin. 'We're off duty, aren't we? Or did you have any other plans for tonight?'

Ryan thought about it, then shrugged. 'I guess not.'

'Thought so.'

 

\- - - - - - - - - -

 

Weston was well on his way to a pleasantly drunk state, and Ryan started to feel the effects of the alcohol as well. He knew this probably wasn't the best idea, especially with his phone ringing every twenty minutes, but at some point he decided to turn the stupid thing off and stuff it into his pocket so he wouldn't have to look at it. Instead, he was looking at Weston. They were both leaning in over the table, and Ryan had a moment of clarity in which he realised they might actually be flirting.

'You know,' Weston was drawling, a slight accent creeping into his voice that Ryan had a hard time placing, 'it's probably a terrible thing to say and you can ignore me if I'm not making any sense but this whole Carroll thing... It's not all bad.'

Ryan pointedly raised his eyebrows at Weston, who started to gesture apologetically with his hands.

'No, don't get me wrong, don't get me wrong, I'm just excited about you joining our team.'

'And why would you be excited about that?'

Weston laughed and looked down. Ryan noticed he almost looked shy. 'I just really like your book.' He looked up to stare Ryan straight in the eye. 'I think your book is amazing.'

Ryan snorted. 'Okay, time to get you home. You're drunk.'

'Ryan, I'm serious.' He looked it, too. Ryan felt something closing around his hand and looked down to realise it was Weston's hand. 'What you've been through, what you gave up to catch Carroll - there aren't many people in the world who would've done that. It's incredible.'

Ryan actually had no idea what to do now. Of course, people had told him this before. He had been thanked and praised and he'd all taken it with smiles and gratitude and a significant amount of alcohol, but this was different. This was someone who knew the works, who was aware of the actual danger, the actual mortal danger he'd had to put himself in. Someone who knew this not just from reading the book, but from experiencing it first-hand. This was someone who understood.

'Thank you, Mike.'

He meant it.

Weston smiled softly at him. 'You called me Mike again.'

It struck Ryan that this was a tenderness he hadn't experienced from another human being in a long time. He didn't know if it was the alcohol or something else, but the sudden desire to give in to this other person was starting to become overwhelming.

'I should go,' he said instead.

'No driving,' Weston said. 'We'll walk. I'll pick up the car tomorrow.'

As Weston put his coat on, Ryan paid for the drinks. They stepped into the crisp night air and Ryan took a deep breath. They walked.

 

\- - - - - - - - - -

 

Standing in front of the door to his house, Ryan felt like a teenaged schoolgirl. He didn't know how to handle a situation like this. Weston was right there, standing in front of him just like this afternoon when he handed him the file. There were no files anywhere in sight now, though. Just Weston and his slightly drunk, slightly smug face.

Ryan handled the situation by doing the only thing that felt right. He kissed Weston hard on the mouth.

Weston didn't seem to mind. That's alcohol for you, Ryan's mind was telling him.

Ryan pulled back, breathing hard. 'That was stupid.'

Weston raised his eyebrows. 'Was it?'

'Mike -' Ryan started, determined to end this right here, right now - nipping whatever this was in the bud, so to speak. But Weston, apparently having a talent for interrupting him as well as having a talent for looking smug, broke off Ryan's protests by reuniting their mouths demandingly.

 

\- - - - - - - - - -

 

A buzzing sound woke Ryan up. He turned over to grab his phone from his bedside table and checked who it was, even though he had his suspicions. He groaned as he was proved right - caller ID told him it was the journalist who was trying to reach him. Again.

'Why don't you just pick up the phone and get it over with,' a sleepy voice came from his right.

Ryan turned around. One arm slung over his eyes to block out the morning light, Weston was lying sprawled in Ryan's bed, the sheets tangled around him.

'Still none of your business,' Ryan muttered, even though he knew Weston was probably right. He got out of bed and took the phone with him. Once he was out of the bedroom he tentatively pressed the button and brought the phone to his ear.

'Hello. No. Definitely not. Listen, lady, I already have an overly excited fan I need to deal with right now, so I'd like you to back off. Exactly. Bye.'

Before he even ended the call, an arm wrapped around Ryan's waist.

'Overly excited fan, huh?' Weston's sleep-coated voice muttered in his ear. 'Thanks for that.'

Ryan turned around. 'No problem. I should deal with it right now, don't you think?' His hand snaked down Weston's spine and rested just above the curve of his ass.

Weston smiled.'As long as you call me Mike.'


End file.
